Games
Odin's Viking Chess: Hnefatafl
By HOLLENDER CONSULTING LLC
Download on theApp Store ↗$1.99 · US storefront
App Store ratingNot rated0 ratings
Age rating4+Apple content rating
CompatibilityiOS 17.0+Check your device
Version1.1.1Updated 2026-10-13
About Odin's Viking Chess: Hnefatafl
Odin’s Viking Chess brings you Hnefatafl, the Viking board game, on twelve historical boards. One side besieges; the other guards a king who must reach the edge of the world. Play across the room or across the world: settle in for a live match, take turns when you have a moment, or share a screen for a friendly rivalry. One purchase. No in-app purchases, no third-party ads, and no tracking. PLAY TOGETHER, YOUR WAY Live online: challenge a friend and trade moves in real time. Turn-based online: play at your own pace without being online togethe…
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Odin’s Viking Chess brings you Hnefatafl, the Viking board game, on twelve historical boards. One side besieges; the other guards a king who must reach the edge of the world. Play across the room or across the world: settle in for a live match, take turns when you have a moment, or share a screen for a friendly rivalry.
One purchase. No in-app purchases, no third-party ads, and no tracking.
PLAY TOGETHER, YOUR WAY
Live online: challenge a friend and trade moves in real time.
Turn-based online: play at your own pace without being online together.
Nearby: connect device to device and play without a Game Center account.
Pass & Play: share one screen and take turns.
Sides are drawn by a coin toss for the first game and swap with every rematch, so nobody keeps the easier seat.
Online matches use Game Center. Turn notifications help you keep up, and a Home Screen widget on iPhone and iPad shows when you have moves waiting.
TWELVE BOARDS, ONE GAME
Every piece moves like a rook. Capture by trapping a piece between two of yours. The attackers win by surrounding the king; the defenders win when the king escapes. What changes from board to board is the size, where the king must reach, and how he is taken.
Fetlar: the modern standard, 11×11, the king escapes to a corner.
Copenhagen: Fetlar with the shieldwall, the edge fort and the encirclement — the online standard.
Brandub: the quickest board, 7×7, from the Irish poems.
Tablut: the Sámi game Linnaeus recorded in 1732, escape at any edge.
Sea Battle: no special squares, the defenders move first, the cargo ship runs for the edge.
Ealdfæder: the defenders start in a square and three attackers take the king at the edge.
Tawlbwrdd 9×9 and 11×11: the Welsh game, a king captured like any piece.
York: the museum’s rules — a weaponless king and an encirclement win.
Imperial Contest: a Victorian parlour game with a die for the first move.
Hnefatafl 13×13: Fetlar’s rules on a wider board.
Alea Evangelii: the vast Anglo-Saxon board, 19×19, 73 pieces and sixteen corner squares.
House Rules let you change a board’s rules for your own games: single-step movement, an armed or unarmed king, a hostile throne, and more.
FIND YOUR CHALLENGE
Play solo as the attackers or the defenders against four computer strengths: Easy, Medium, Hard, and Expert. Learn a new board at your own pace, then raise the difficulty when you’re ready.
Want a nudge? The coach suggests a move and explains it in the king’s terms — a line to escape, a ring tightening, a capture waiting. Undo during local play lets you try another approach, and every board includes a How to Play guide with its history.
MAKE YOUR PROGRESS COUNT
Earn XP, climb the ranks from Wanderer to Grand King, and pursue 30 achievements and 18 Game Center leaderboards, including a leaderboard for each board. Bigger boards earn more.
Local games save automatically, so you can take a break and return to an unfinished game.
A PLACE AT THE BOARD
Carved sigils on oak, a rune band around the frame, and Longhouse gold bring the world of Odin’s Checkers to Hnefatafl. Play on iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, and Mac, with support for 50 languages, VoiceOver, and Dynamic Type.
Made by the team behind Odin’s Checkers, Squared², and Odin’s Tic-Tac-Toe. The only promotions you’ll see are for our own games.
Choose a board. Choose a side. See who wants the rematch.
One purchase. No in-app purchases, no third-party ads, and no tracking.
PLAY TOGETHER, YOUR WAY
Live online: challenge a friend and trade moves in real time.
Turn-based online: play at your own pace without being online together.
Nearby: connect device to device and play without a Game Center account.
Pass & Play: share one screen and take turns.
Sides are drawn by a coin toss for the first game and swap with every rematch, so nobody keeps the easier seat.
Online matches use Game Center. Turn notifications help you keep up, and a Home Screen widget on iPhone and iPad shows when you have moves waiting.
TWELVE BOARDS, ONE GAME
Every piece moves like a rook. Capture by trapping a piece between two of yours. The attackers win by surrounding the king; the defenders win when the king escapes. What changes from board to board is the size, where the king must reach, and how he is taken.
Fetlar: the modern standard, 11×11, the king escapes to a corner.
Copenhagen: Fetlar with the shieldwall, the edge fort and the encirclement — the online standard.
Brandub: the quickest board, 7×7, from the Irish poems.
Tablut: the Sámi game Linnaeus recorded in 1732, escape at any edge.
Sea Battle: no special squares, the defenders move first, the cargo ship runs for the edge.
Ealdfæder: the defenders start in a square and three attackers take the king at the edge.
Tawlbwrdd 9×9 and 11×11: the Welsh game, a king captured like any piece.
York: the museum’s rules — a weaponless king and an encirclement win.
Imperial Contest: a Victorian parlour game with a die for the first move.
Hnefatafl 13×13: Fetlar’s rules on a wider board.
Alea Evangelii: the vast Anglo-Saxon board, 19×19, 73 pieces and sixteen corner squares.
House Rules let you change a board’s rules for your own games: single-step movement, an armed or unarmed king, a hostile throne, and more.
FIND YOUR CHALLENGE
Play solo as the attackers or the defenders against four computer strengths: Easy, Medium, Hard, and Expert. Learn a new board at your own pace, then raise the difficulty when you’re ready.
Want a nudge? The coach suggests a move and explains it in the king’s terms — a line to escape, a ring tightening, a capture waiting. Undo during local play lets you try another approach, and every board includes a How to Play guide with its history.
MAKE YOUR PROGRESS COUNT
Earn XP, climb the ranks from Wanderer to Grand King, and pursue 30 achievements and 18 Game Center leaderboards, including a leaderboard for each board. Bigger boards earn more.
Local games save automatically, so you can take a break and return to an unfinished game.
A PLACE AT THE BOARD
Carved sigils on oak, a rune band around the frame, and Longhouse gold bring the world of Odin’s Checkers to Hnefatafl. Play on iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, and Mac, with support for 50 languages, VoiceOver, and Dynamic Type.
Made by the team behind Odin’s Checkers, Squared², and Odin’s Tic-Tac-Toe. The only promotions you’ll see are for our own games.
Choose a board. Choose a side. See who wants the rematch.
A closer look
